(January 11, 2011) A northern Sri Lankan bishop has expressed concern over restrictions
on freedom of religion, expression, association and movement, in the wake of the nation’s
long civil war. “People, community leaders and religious leaders should be free to
organize peaceful events and meetings without restrictions,” Bishop Rayappu Joseph
of Mannar told the government-appointed “Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission”,
LLRC. He said “On several occasions, the military cancelled religious services for
killed or missing civilians, and priests have been threatened for their attempts to
commemorate those who were killed.” In his Jan. 8 and 9 testimony on behalf of
the diocese, Bishop Joseph proposed that the government should declare a day of mourning
to remember civilians killed during the war. “Visitors from outside the district and
from overseas, should be allowed to freely visit recently resettled areas without
having to obtain prior permission,” he added. “Unhindered access to detainees should
also be allowed for families, religious leaders, lawyers, LLRC and other statutory
bodies,” Bishop Joseph told the commission. He also said that a centralized, comprehensive
list of detainees should be made public. “Existing mechanisms have been unable to
assist the families of the disappeared people. We are particularly worried that there
is no news about two Tamil priests from the North, who disappeared in this period,”
he noted. “In order to achieve genuine and lasting reconciliation, we believe it
is crucial to address roots of the conflict and war, primarily issues affecting Tamils
such as recognition of their political reality, language, land, education and political
power sharing,” Bishop Rayappu concluded.